May 19-20: Lake Nakuru National Park

RM and I just returned from a two day trip to Lake Nakuru National Park. I had mentioned before I left for Kenya that I hoped we would see some wildlife, and Lake Nakuru did not disappoint. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of flamingos that you'll see in the photo below, we also saw nearly every Central African animal you can think of minus the big cats and elephants.


Given that the only thing that separated us from these animals was the crumbling, rusted exterior of the three-decades old cab we hired in Nakuru, this was not necessarily a bad thing. In 2004 one of the parks rangers was killed by a lion -- this is what our rayon suit clad driver David told us as we passed the spot where it happened -- so i think for now I will take my big cats via Discovery Channel HD.

(flamingos on lake Nakuru)

We spent the night after our tour of Nakuru on Lake Naivasha at a small lodge called Fisherman's Camp. RM had stayed there before and the recommendation was a good one. Fisherman's sits on the shore of Lake Naivasha about 20k out of Naivasha the city (which is about 2hrs from Nairobi). Fisherman's was out of platform cabins so we rented some blankets and a small dome tent and pitched this on the lawn instead. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but less of one when the hippos came out during our dinner. Despite their similarities with their more docile cousin -- the manatee -- hippos are highly territorial and can be known to maim or kill with very little warning. As we ate dinner and played jenga at the small lodge so did the hippos a few feet away (dinner that is, not jenga); by the time we went to bed they were gone. We didn't hear from them again that night, but according to our friend Alex, who was pitched much closer to the water, they were singing into the early hours of the morning.

(view from the bar - Fisherman's Camp Lake Naivasha)

Rather than rush into Hell's Gate National Park, which borders the lake, as we had planned we decided to take a slow morning and enjoy the scenery at Fisherman's. After some reading, frisbee, and watching the skunk monkeys swing through the canopy, we boarded the matatu back to Naivasha then caught another from Naivashi into Nairobi. We left Alex in Naivasha as she was headed for a night bus to Kampala, Uganda.

(waiting for the matatu from Fisherman's Camp to Naivasha)

RM and I are leaving for Cape Town, South Africa this afternoon. Please make sure to check out my Kenya flickr gallery for more photos from the park and our last few four days in Kenya. Also, check out this week's Economist for a blurb on lake Naivasha and the economic for bringing back hunting in Kenya.

(Lake Nakuru National Park)

(Lake Nakuru National Park)